Its power lies in the fact that it is embedded in the forms of subjectivity that serve to maintain the social order... As Foucault made clear, subjectivity implies the subjection to an order of power of some sort. And, symbolic violence is one way of speaking about a subjectivity that is socially regulated via an order that reproduces social domination. 2

Applying this concept to my analysis of how and why anti-black racism was so central to the Houston area’s early racial formation, this chapter demonstrates how this articulation of soft violence has been embedded in the iconography and social climate of the region. The iconography clearly glorifies the Confederacy in addition to local slave owners and other white-supremacist figures who gained notoriety in defense of slavery and segregation. This was especially true in Baytown, where nostalgia for the Old South is quite pronounced and is evident in the names of public schools, other institutions, and historical markers. Both Richard Slotkin and Marita Sturtken have shown that the public iconography of any social formation offers a clear view of the types of values it privileges and behaviors it has normalized. 3 The iconography helps map out the contours of symbolic violence and gives an indication of whose lives have been rendered most expendable in hegemonic narratives regarding the origins of sovereignty.